The Emaciated Elephant in the Room: Are GLP-1s causing us to lose our minds as well as weight?

Hadley Freeman is a U.K.-based journalist, Sunday Times columnist, and the author of Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia. She joins the podcast this week to discuss what she calls the "thinness arms race" in the era of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. She and Meghan talk about why extreme thinness is once again being rewarded—if not demanded—of female celebrities, how the current aesthetic differs from 90s heroin chic, and why the language of body positivity is often used to shut down obvious observations. They also talk about the physical and psychological realities of severe undernourishment, the role of status and self-denial in shaping beauty standards, and the broader "cartoonification" of the human body in a culture increasingly mediated by filters, pornography, and screens.

Before the episode begins, Meghan has a quick but important message about her April Fool's Day episode with "guest" Amanda Gertz-Hurdy.

Guest Bio:

Hadley Freeman is a staff writer at The Sunday Times. Her latest book, Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia, was published in 2023.